chess noob Game Review! #3 Jaenisch Gambit Exchange Variation (6. Qh5+)
#RuyLopez #JaenischGambit
This is the third entry in the new series of videos, "chess noob Game Review" where the focus will be on identifying in how a game, whether I win or lose, could have been improved. This gives me an opportunity to reflect more deeply about a game and hopefully, the lessons that I draw for myself will be helpful to my fellow beginner and beginner-intermediate chess players!
The Jaenisch Gambit is a fantastic response to the Ruy Lopez Opening. According to the Lichess community database of lower-rated games of blitz and rapid, it is the only response where Black has a statistical win advantage over White after the aggressive bishop to b5 on move 3 (1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5).
Recently, I played a game of the "Exchange Variation", where White immediately captures the knight for their bishop, takes the pawn on e4 with their knight, and then responds to our bold queen advance to d4 with the counterattack Qh5+. This is one of the most common lines out of the Exchange Variation of the Jaenisch Gambit, and we arrive at the following position.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nxe5 Qd4 6. Qh5+
The interesting thing about White's counterattack (6. Qh5+) is that it has the appearance of being very good. It comes with check, and those who know the pattern understand that typically, they might win a rook at the end of the sequence. This illusion makes it practically a trap. We can block the check with the g-pawn (6... g6), and now, white has three pieces hanging - pawn on e4, knight on e5, and the queen on h5! This means, that they must capture the g6 pawn with their knight (7. Nxg6), we can capture back with the h-pawn (7... hxg6) and our rook on h8, which would normally now be exposed to the enemy queen's attack, is discovered to be defended by our own queen on d4!
Effectively, at the end of move 7 White's queen is offside with no supporting pieces, and they have no other development! Typically, White will capture the g6 pawn with their queen with check (8. Qxg6+) and Black will need to know one move in response, (8... Kd8). In this game, this was the limit of my knowledge of theory. Taking stock, we have quite an unbalanced position. We've captured an additional minor piece (the knight) but have lost three pawns and the right to castle. We are objectively ahead [-2.84] (Stockfish 15 NNUE at depth 40).
My opponent now made a serious mistake, though I didn’t quite conceptualise it during the game. They short castled (9. O-O) to protect their king. I can understand the rationale - my queen capturing the e4 pawn would come with check. However, I had semi-open h- and g-files meaning that they were at risk of a devastating attack on their king. Stockfish identifies a powerful idea and line starting with (9... Bd6), lining up a double attack with bishop and rook on the h2 pawn (note: see this in the video and in the PGN). If White doesn't play very carefully, this results easily in a beautiful checkmate line with a rook sacrifice!
In the game, I missed this tactic and attacked the White queen with my knight (9... Ne7). This is a common idea in this position, and although Stockfish calls it a mistake (due to the better attack above), it is still nonetheless winning [-4.57]. The white queen then gets chased by my pieces, which also sets me up for an attack on the opponent's position. On move 11, I made a tactical decision to "cash out" my advantage. The queen was my opponent's only developed piece, and I thought that a trade of queens would disadvantage my opponent more than myself. Stockfish disagrees (roughly [-8] vs [-4]), however, I certainly found it easier to manoeuvre after the queens were off the board! Humans don't play perfectly!
The rest of the game was relatively easy. White's lack of development, and the semi-open files to the White king's position converted quickly to a slight material advantage, and then, an overwhelming advantage with an attack that they couldn't stop.
